Traffic ground to a halt after a dog was hit by a car and a lorry broke down on one of Teesside's busiest trunk routes early today.

The accident involving the dog happened on the A66 westbound carriageway near the Newport roundabout in Middlesbrough at about 6.45am. At about the same time a lorry broke down on the eastbound carriageway within 100m of the accident, causing traffic to back up in both directions. A vet was called to take the dog in for treatment.